Cabinet



INVENTOR. 4001/9 4 6440/6423 ATTUZWZVS Jan. 17, 1967 A. E. GOLDF'ARB CABINET Filed Feb. 11, 1965 3,298,764 CABINET Adolph E. Goldfarh, 7427 Varna St., North Hoilywood, Calif. 91605 Filed Feb. 11, 1965, Ser. No. 431,904 4 Claims. (Cl. 312-204) This invention relates to a new and useful cabinet and more particularly to a new and useful vanity cabinet and sliding drawer combination.

Many different types of prior art vanity or medicine cabinets are known. of these prior art cabinets do have certain disadvantages. One disadvantage resides in the fact that it is inconvenient to store miscellaneous, small articles in such cabinets. Another disadvantage resides in the fact that some of these prior art cabinets are relatively expensive and fairly difficult to install. Yet another disadvantage resides in the fact that some of these prior art cabinets are permanently built into a wall in the home in which they are used and cannot, therefore be moved from place to place.

In view of the foregoing factors and conditions characteristic of prior art vanity or medicine cabinets, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a new and useful vanity cabinet not subject to the disadvantages enumerated above and having a new and useful drawer construction in combination therewith.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a cabinet of the type described which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture and which may be readly installed and used by the average home owner.

Yet another object .of the present invention is to provide a new and useful vanity cabinet and sliding drawer combination.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a cabinet of the type described which may be readily removed from one place of use and installed in another place of use.

According to the present invention, a new and' useful inexpensive vanity cabinet is provided. The cabinet may be made from any suitable material and is described herein for purposes of illustration, but not of limitation, as being constructed by injection molding techniques employing a high-impact polystyrene plastic material. The cabinet includes a body portion having a closed rear wall, a top wall, a bottom wall, a pair of side walls and an open front. Shelf and partition guides, hanging-apertures, a stiffening flange and hinge element may be molded integrally with the body portion. In addition, guides and stop members for a sliding drawer of the present invention may also be formed on the underside of the bottom wall during the molding operation. A sliding drawer having a closed bottom wall, upstanding end walls and a rear wall may also be formed by injection molding techniques. The drawer is preferably molded in such a manner that its front will be open leaving the-front edges of the bottom wall and the end walls exposed for the reception of a front wall forming a simulated continuation of the mirrored door for the cabinet. Spaced-apart, parallel ribs are formed on the under surface of the drawers bottom wall in alignment with a suitable recess formed on the outer surface of its rear wall during the molding operation. A metal bracket may then be attached to the body portion in such a manner that the bracket extends downwardly below the bottom wall of the body portion so that the drawer may be slid into position subjacent the bottom wall of the body portion by engaging the bracket in the channel formed by the spaced-apart parallel ribs on the under surface of the bottom wall of the drawer. When the drawer is slid into position beneath the cabinet employing the guides provided on the under surface of the bottom wall of the body portion to properly position While generally satisfactory, some nited States Patent the drawer, the recessed portion provided on the rear wall of the drawer will engage the hanging bracket, whereby the front face of the drawer will be flush with the mirrored door when it is closed.

The mirrored door includes an injection molded frame which is provided with a glass-receiving opening, a friction type catch, a door closing guide member and suitable hinge portions which are engageable with the other hinge portions provided on the body portion. The mirrorreceiving opening is designed in such a manner that a mirror may be placed therein and conveniently secured in position by adhering suitable plastic tabs to the frame by a suitable adhesive, sonic welding methods or the like. When the door is closed, the lower edge of the mirror frame is flush with the lower surface of the bottom wall of the body portion so that the upper edge of the front wall for the sliding drawer will merge with the mirror frame forming a continuation thereof when the drawer is closed.

The features of the present invention which are believed to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The present invention, both as to its organization and manner of operation, together with fur ther objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer to like elements in the several views.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the cabinet of the present invention with parts broken away to show internal construction;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged, partial, cross-sectional view taken along line 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged, partial, cross-sectional view taken along line 33 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged, partial, cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged, partial, cross-sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIGURE 1.

Referring again to the drawings, a device constituting'a presently preferred embodiment of the invention, generally designated 10, comprises a vanity or medicine cabinet 12 and a slidable drawer 14. Although the device 10 may be made from any suitable'material employing any suitable manufacturing technique, it is shown and described herein for purposes of illustration, but not of limitation, as being made primarily by injection molding techniques employing a high-impact polystyrene plastic material.

The cabinet 12 includes a body portion 16 having a rear wall 18 from which side walls 20, a top wall 22 and a bottom wall 24 extend in encompassing relation therewith to form an open front 26. The open front 26 is provided with an out turned flange 28 which encompasses the side walls 20, the top wall 22 and the bottom wall 24 to reinforce the body portion 16. Durnig the molding operation, the rear wall 18 may be provided with a plurality of key-hole-type apertures 36 which facilitate hanging the device 10 on a bathroom wall, the inside of a closet door or the like. During the molding of the body portion 16, a plurality of shelf guides 32, partition guides 34, a bracket-receiving recess 36 and a suitable hinge halves, such as the one shown at 38 in FIGURE 1, may be formed on the body portion 16. In addition, a drawer stop 40 and a pair of drawer guides 42 may be formed on the under surface 44 of the bottom wall 24.

The body portion 16 includes suitable shelves, such as the ones shown at 46, and a partition 48 which are adapted to be placed in the body portion 16 by sliding them into engagement with their associated guides 32 and 34, respectively.

The cabinet 12 also includes a mirrored-door 50 having a frame 52 and a mirror 54. The frame 52 is preferably formed in a single molding operation and is provided with a mirror opening 56 which is surrounded by a glassreceiving channel 58. The channel 58 is formed on the frame 52 during the molding operation and is adapted to receive the mirror 54 which may be retained in position within the channel 58 by suitable clips, such as the ones shown at 60, which may be secured to the frame 52 in the channel 58 by suitable adhering means, such as an adhesive or a weldment, as shown 62 in FIGURES 2 and 5. The frame 52 is also provided with a peripheral flange 64 on its lower edge 66 which is adapted to abut the flange 28 on the front edge 68 of the bottom wall 24 when the door is swung to a closed position on suitable hinges, such as the hinge half 70 shown in FIGURE 2 as being connected to the hinge half 38 by a hinge pin 72. The door 50 is guided into a proper closing relationship with the body portion 16 by a door-guide 74 which is provided on one lower corner 76 thereof. The guide 74 assures that the lower edge 66 of the door 50 will be properly aligned in a horizontal .plane to match the upper edge 78 of the drawer 14 when it is closed in a manner to be hereinafter described. Also, the. flange 64 on the frame 52 coupled with a like flange 80 provided on the drawer 14 assures that the front surface 82 of the door 50 and the front surface 34 of the drawer 14 will be flush when they are in their closed positions. The door 50 is retained in its closed position by a friction-latch member 85 which is formed on the frame 52 during the molding operation and which is engageable with the flange 28 provided on one of the side walls 20.

The drawer 14 includes a bottom wall 86, a rear wall 88 and side walls 90. The rear wall 88 is provided on its rear surface 92 with a vertical recess 94 and the lower surface 96 of the bottom wall 86 is provided with parallel, spaced-apart rails or guide member 98. The bottom Wall 86, the rear Wall 88, the side walls 90, the recess 94 and the rails 98 are preferably integrally formed in a single molding step. The drawer 14 may then be completed by providing an injection molded front wall 100 which simulates a continuation of the frame 52 and which includes channel members 102 engageable with the front edges 104 of the bottom wall 86 and the side walls to secure the front wall thereto.

The cabinet 12 also includes an L-shaped bracket 106 having a vertical leg 108 and a horizontal leg 11%. The vertical leg 103 is provided with suitable apertures 11.2 which are alignable with like apertures 1.14 provided on the rear wall 18 in the recess or cavity 36. The cavity 36 is of sufficient depth to accommodate the vertical leg 108 so that the outer surface 116 of the rear wall 18 will remain flush when the bracket 108 is secured thereto by suitable rivets 118. The horizontal leg 110 is spaced sufficiently below the bottom wall 24 so that the drawer 1.4 can be supported by the leg 110 and slid into position beneath the cabinet 12. The drawer 14 is maintained in proper alignment with the cabinet 12 by straddling the leg 110 with the rails 98 and by engaging the guide members 42 with the side walls 90. The recess 94 on the rear wall 88 of the drawer 14 is of suflicient depth to accommodate the bracket 108 when the drawer 14 is slid to a closed position with the flange 80 abutting the flange 28. When the drawer 14 is opened by sliding it to the broken line position shown in FIGURE 2, the rear wall 88 engages the stop member 40 to prevent the drawer 14 from becoming disengaged from the bracket 108. However,

when it is desired to remove the drawer 14, the natural resiliency of the leg 114 is sufficient that the drawer 14 may be lowered until the rear wall 88 clears the stop member 40. Reinsertion of the drawer 14 into the cabinet 12 is facilitated by a depending lip on the leg 110 which may be engaged by a lower, rounded portion 122 provided at the junction of the recess 94 with the rounded junction 124 of the rear wall 88 and the bottom wall 86.

By using the means herein shown and described for supporting and guiding the drawer 14 instead of enclosing it in conventional manner by extending the walls 18 and 20, considerable material is saved. In addition, the supporting and guiding means makes it possible to employ the cabinet 12 without the drawer 14 by removing bracket 106 and by replacing the lower portion of the frame 52 with a strip which matches the upper strip thereof. When the cabinet 12 is used without the drawer 14, the drawer guides 42 may be used as legs to support the cabinet 12 on a suitable surface.

While the particular cabinet herein shown and described in detail is fully capable of attaining the objects and providing the advantages hereinbefore stated, it is to be understood that it is. merely illustrative of the presently preferred embodiment of the invention and that no limitations are intended to the details of construction or design herein shown other than as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A vanity cabinet comprising:

a body portion having a closed rear Wall and encompassing side, top and bottom walls forming an open front,

hinge means mounted on one of said Walls adjacent said open front,

a door swingably connected to said hinge means for closing said open front, and

drawer support and guide means comprising an L- shaped bracket having a vertical leg afiixed to said rear wall and a horizontal leg extending subjacent said bottom Wall, and drawer guide bars affixed to the under surface of said bottom wall.

2. The cabinet of claim 1 wherein said vertical leg is mounted in a recess provided in said rear wall of said body portion, whereby said cabinet may be flush-mounted on a wall.

3. The cabinet of claim 1 including a drawer slidably mounted subjacent said bottom wall on said horizontal leg of said drawer support and guide means.

4. The cabinet of claim 1 wherein said door includes a unitary frame having a mirror-receiving opening and channel means for supporting a mirror in said opening.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 489,593 1/1893 Ramer 312245 X 1,952,216 3/1934 Owings 312-204 X 2,186,643 1/1940 Kaplan 40154 2,807,515 9/1957 Dean 3l2227 3,008,785 11/1961 Gehrs 312-209 3,167,370 1/1965 Mancini 312209 CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner. CHANCELLOR E. HARRIS, Examiner. 

1. A VANITY CABINET COMPRISING: A BODY PORTION HAVING A CLOSED REAR WALL AND ENCOMPASSING SIDE, TOP AND BOTTOM WALLS FORMING AN OPEN FRONT, HINGE MEANS MOUNTED ON ONE OF SAID WALLS ADJACENT SAID OPEN FRONT, A DOOR SWINGABLY CONNECTED TO SAID HINGE MEANS FOR CLOSING SAID OPEN FRONT, AND DRAWER SUPPORT AND GUIDE MEANS COMPRISING AN LSHAPED BRACKET HAVING A VERTICAL LEG AFFIXED TO SAID REAR WALL AND A HORIZONTAL LEG EXTENDING SUBJACENT SAID BOTTOM WALL, AND DRAWER GUIDE BARS AFFIXED TO THE UNDER SURFACE OF SAID BOTTOM WALL. 